A total of three players from
Big Ten schools will skate for the National Hockey League's ultimate prize when the Stanley Cup Final opens on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. New York Rangers teammates Carl Hagelin (Michigan), Ryan McDonagh (Wisconsin) and Derek Stepan (Wisconsin) will face the Los Angeles Kings with each player looking to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time in their career.

Hagelin, McDonagh and Stepan each have made significant impacts to help the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final. McDonagh and Stepan are tied for the team points lead with 13 apiece while Hagelin is tied for the team lead in goals with six. McDonagh has logged more ice time than any New York skater, averaging more than 25 minutes per game.

In all, 35 players from Big Ten schools have won the Stanley Cup a total of 49 times. With 12 different players whose names have been inscribed on the Stanley Cup, Wisconsin leads all schools across the nation. Minnesota is fourth with eight different players that have won the Cup, followed by Michigan and Michigan State in a tie for fifth place with seven different NHL champions. Wisconsin holds the national lead with a total of 17 Stanley Cup wins among its alums while Michigan is tied for third with 13 total NHL crowns.

Wisconsin's last player to win the Stanley Cup was Davis Drewiske, who did so with Los Angeles in 2012. Michigan is aiming for its first NHL champion since 2010, when former Wolverine John Madden and former Badger Adam Burish helped lead the Chicago Blackhawks to the title. Michigan State and Minnesota boasts the most recent players with their names on the Stanley Cup, with former Spartan Duncan Keith and former Gopher Nick Leddy teaming up on Chicago's 2013 championship-winning squad.

Purdue athletics director Morgan Burke announced the hiring of Tony Ersland as head wrestling coach. Ersland takes the helm of the Boilermaker program with extensive Division I coaching experience and success in the Big Ten, Big 12 and Mid-American conferences.

Ersland comes to Purdue after serving as an assistant coach at Nebraska for the past eight seasons. While on staff, the Huskers have tallied a 102-41-2 dual record, seven top-20 team finishes at the NCAA Championships and grapplers have earned 17 All-America honors. Ersland, who primarily worked with the upper weights, coached three-time All-American, two-time NCAA finalist and 2009 Big 12 champion and Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet Craig Brester at 197 pounds. He also coached four-time qualifiers in Josh Ihnen (184) and Tucker Lane (285).

During his 17 years, Ersland has played an integral role in developing student-athletes that are accomplished on the mat and nationally recognized. He has had 86 wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships, with 28 earning All-America honors and four finishing at the top of the podium. Two of his pupils, Jordan Burroughs and Jake Herbert, earned the highest honor a collegiate grappler can receive in the Dan Hodge Award. Ersland continued to develop Burroughs on the international stage as he claimed the 2011 and 2013 World titles at 74 kg. In 2012, Burroughs claimed Olympic gold in London.

Indiana's Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller and Michigan's Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. were all named to the NBA All-Rookie Team on Thursday. Burke, Hardaway and Oladipo were all named to the All-Rookie First Team, while Zeller was a second-team selection. All four standouts were first-round selections in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Oladipo, who was a first-team All-Big Ten selection as well as collecting Sporting News National Player of the Year honors in 2013, finished second in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting this season. He averaged 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game. On December 3, 2013, Oladipo recorded his first triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists against the Philadelphia 76ers. Oladipo was the No. 2 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

Zeller was tabbed the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2012, and was named first-team All-Big Ten as a sophomore in 2013. He played in all 82 games for the Bobcats this season, helping the Charlotte franchise to a significant improvement in wins and a berth in the NBA Playoffs. In 17.3 minutes per game, he averaged 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. Zeller was the No. 4 pick in last year's draft.

Burke was the 2013 Big Ten Player of the Year and also received National Player of the Year nods from the Associated Press, USBWA and NABC. In addition, Burke was the 2013 Wooden Award and Naismith Award winner. The Utah Jazz point guard was third in the NBA's Rookie of the Year voting, finishing the season averaging 12.8 points per game, third best among rookies, 5.7 assists, second best among rookies and 3.0 rebounds per contest. Burke was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month in December and January. He was the No. 9 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Hardaway, a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2013, was the No. 24 pick in last year's NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. He was fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting after averaging 10.2 points per game, fourth-best among all rookies, and shooting 36.3 percent from three-point range. He scored in double figures in 40 games while also shooting 82.8 percent from the free throw line.

Seventeen Big Ten student-athletes earned first-team Capital One Academic All-District honors, as announced on Thursday. The honorees are now eligible for Academic All-America consideration. The complete list of Big Ten Academic All-District award recipients can be found below.

Four Big Ten women's gymnastics teams and two individual gymnasts represented the conference at the 2014 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships.

NCAA Championship Central: Big Ten gymnasts posted seven top-10 finishes during the individual event finals of the 2014 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships. Michigan's Joanna Sampson placed second on the floor exercise with a score of 9.9500, followed by Nebraska's Emily Wong in eighth place (9.9000). On the beam, Nebraska's Jamie Schleppenbach finished third (9.8875), Jessie DeZiel placed eighth (9.8625) and Hollie Blanske came in 10th (9.8500). Minnesota's Lindsay Mable finished fifth on the vault (9.9333), followed by ninth-place Sachi Sugiyama of Michigan (9.8667). The Nebraska women's gymnastics team posted a score of 196.500 to finish sixth overall at the Super Six Team Finals of the NCAA Championships at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. For more on the NCAA Championships, click here and here.

Regional Representation: Women's gymnasts from all eight Big Ten schools are set to compete in the NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday. Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State will represent the conference in team competition, while five gymnasts and one alternate from Iowa and three gymnasts and two alternates from Michigan State will participate in various individual events. Click here for more on regional competition.

Wolverines Bring Home the Hardware: Michigan earned the 2014 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships title on Saturday, securing its 20th title and first since 2011. The Wolverines tallied 197.550 points en route to the team title, followed by Nebraska in second place with 196.950. Minnesota finished in third with 196.675 points, Illinois placed fourth with 196.625 and Penn State rounded out the top five with 196.475 points. Minnesota's Lindsay Mable won the vault with a score of 10.000 en route to the all-around title with a score of 39.650. For more on the Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships, click here.

Sharing the Crown: Minnesota and Nebraska clinched a share of the regular season Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championship after finishing with 6-1 Big Ten records. The Golden Gophers placed first in their Big Ten quad meet versus Iowa, Michigan and Penn State after scoring 196.700 points, while Nebraska recorded 197.050 points in its quad meet against Illinois, Michigan State and Ohio State. For more on the regular season champions, click here.

And the Award Goes to: The conference's individual awards were also given out following the Big Ten Championships. Nebraska's Wong was named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, marking the first honor in Cornhusker history. Michigan's Nicole Artz was tabbed the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, while Minnesota head coach Meg Stephenson was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. For more award winners, click here and here.

Academic Success: The Big Ten Conference on Wednesday recognized a total of 678 winter sports student-athletes who have been named to the Academic All-Conference team, which included 52 women's gymnasts. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. The list of players included 32 repeat winners, including three-time honorees Sarah Fiedler and Amber See of Illinois, Teresa Arthur of Michigan, Gillian Carr, Dani Levy and Alex Pace of Michigan State, Kayla Slechta of Minnesota, Jamie Schleppenbach and Emily Wong of Nebraska, Victoria Aepli, Alex DeLuca, Sarah Miller and Melanie Shaffer of Ohio State and Lindsay Musgrove of Penn State. For more on the Academic All-Big Ten selections, click here.

A total of 19 players from
Big Ten schools have advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which
opens on Thursday. Representing five Big Ten schools, the players can
be found on seven of the eight teams still fighting to hoist the Stanley Cup.

A total of 38 players from Big Ten schools are taking part in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which opened on Wednesday. Representing five Big Ten schools, the players can be found on 14 of the 16 teams that qualified for the NHL postseason.

Nebraska gymnast Emily Wong has been named the 2014 AAI Award winner, recognizing the most outstanding female gymnast in the country. The honor is given annually to the nation's top gymnast on the basis of athleticism, academic excellence and civic responsibility. The award is voted on by the NCAA women's gymnastics head coaches and was announced at the championships banquet Wednesday night in Birmingham, Ala.

Wong is the second Nebraska gymnast to receive this coveted award behind Richelle Simpson who captured the honor in 2005.

In her senior season at Nebraska, Wong has cemented her position as one of the nation's top all-around student-athletes in the country. At the 2014 Student-Athlete Recognition Banquet, Wong was named Nebraska's Female Student-Athlete of the Year, while also claiming the Big Ten Medal of Honor for her accolades.